Toby Driver's experimental metal band Kayo Dot played Mercury Lounge on Wednesday (2/25) with Enablers, Insect Ark, and Center Divider. That's a pic from the show above. Did you go? How was it?

Toby's next announced NYC appearances (though it won't be a surprise if he plays here sooner) happen during his residency at The Stone from August 25-30. He's the curator and will also be performing with various groups each night.

His other long-running experimental metal band Maudlin of the Well plays 8 PM and 10 PM sets on August 25, and then on August 26, Kayo Dot play their 2003 album Choirs of the Eye at the 8 PM set and their 2010 album Coyote at the 10 PM set.

On August 27, his duo with former Kayo Dot member Mia Matsumiya, Tarter Lamb, will be joined by Jeremiah Cymerman (clarinet, electronics) to perform their 2007 debut Sixty Metonymies at the 8 PM set. Then at the 10 PM set, Toby and friends play the score he wrote for the dance film Ichneumonidae, followed by Kayo Dot playing their 2011 EP, Stained Glass.

Toby plays solo ballads "for the haters" at 8 PM on August 28, followed by a 10 PM set by The Tanks, his trio with drummer Ches Smith and guitarist Brandon Seabrook. Then on August 29, it's an 8 PM set by Stern, the Chuck Stern-fronted band that Toby plays guitar in, followed by another Kayo Dot set of current material at 10 PM. And finally on August 30, it's two more solo sets from Toby, the latter being new chamber works.

Browse the schedule for the residency, with full lineups for each night, below...

If you're in the market for a brilliant postmodern guitar hero, you could do a whole lot worse than Henry Kaiser. This Bay Area diver/filmmaker/musician has appeared on more than 50 records since the early '70s, ranging from total improvisations to jazz to experimental and progressive rock. While augmenting his flawless techniques with a wide array of electronic effects, Kaiser has familiarized himself with the ethnic musics of Southeast Asia, India and Japan, yet recently cited Jerry Garcia as a personal guitar fave. - [Trouser Press]

East Village venue The Stone is one of NYC's best places to see avant jazz, experimental, improvisational, new composers and other music that fall just outside (or way outside) the pop realm. Starting tonight (2/3) and running through February 8, acclaimed guitarist Henry Kaiser will be in residence / curating the programing. On Wednesday (2/4) he'll be playing with Bill Laswell, and on multiple other nights he'll be joined by Weasel Walter. Full schedule below.

The Stone is closed from February 10 - 15 for renovations, but after that jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine will be in residence from February 17 - 22 including nights with Erik Friedlander and Stone domo John Zorn. Then jazz percussionist and onetime Max Roach M'Boom player Warren Smith will be in residence from February 24 - March 1. Full schedule below.

Then on March 2 it's a one-night-only performance of former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo's trio, Philm which also features guitarist/vocalist/pianist Gerry Nestler (Civil Defiance), and bassist Pancho Tomaselli (WAR). That's a week or so after Philm play Saint Vitus (2/23) with Gozu and Long Day Gone. Flyer with all of Philm's tour dates, below.

As you may know there are no advance tickets to shows at The Stone. There are many months worth of 2015 residencies that are browsable on The Stone's site. Full February schedule below.

Matt Nelson, who you may know as one of the saxophonists from tUnE-yArDs' w h o k i l l album and tour, is releasing his debut solo album called Lower Bottoms on October 21 via Tubapede Records (pre-order physical and digital). Its new single "To Believe In What" is an experimental sax workout and that premieres in this post. Listen below.

Matt has some solo shows coming up including two in NYC. First, he plays a trio set at The Stone this Saturday (10/4) at 8 PM with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Ches Smith. Then he plays a Lower Bottoms release show on November 16 at Snugs (61 Bergen St) in Brooklyn. Additionally, Matt plays as a member of Battle Trance (who have a new album out on NNA Tapes), and they also have dates coming up including an opening slot at the MHOW (10/10) stop of the Buke & Gase tour. Palm are on that show too and tickets are still available.

All Matt Nelson solo dates and Battle Trance dates are listed, with the new song, below...

Okkyung Lee also takes part in Hardcore Activity in Progress (part of Red Bull Music Academy) which happens on May 16 at the Knockdown Center in Queens with Napalm Death, Wolf Eyes, Gunplay, Bastard Noise, The Thing, clipping., Yoshiko Ohara, Gnaw and more. Tickets for that are still available.

Meanwhile, you can catch Ikue Mori at The Stone tonight (5/1) with Annie Gosfield (10 PM set), later this month on 5/21 with Susie Ibarra, and next month (6/11) with Nels Cline.

Jenny Hval also tours with Swans this month, including two NYC shows -- 5/18 at Bowery Ballroom & 5/19 at MHOW. Bowery is sold out but tickets for MHOW are still available.

University of the Streets, the University of the Streets Musicians Committee and the musicians union Local 802 are formally announcing the end of a seven month boycott of University of the Streets, effective immediately.

The announcement follows successful resolution of negotiations between the non-profit jazz venue's management and members of the University of the Streets Musicians' Committee, an ad hoc organization representing musicians who had played at University of the Streets and were participating in the boycott, and Local 802, AFM, whose representatives were present in support of the musicians' committee.

The boycott was called last September, after reports of a musician being injured during an altercation with a UOTS employee circulated widely through social media. The boycott also stemmed from musicians' concerns over what they considered a "pay to play" policy, in which the venue sometimes required bands to pay out of pocket to cover a guarantee in ticket sales.

In January 2012, the UOTS Musicians Committee contacted Saadia Salahuddeen, director of University of the Streets, with a list of grievances. These were resolved in a meeting on April 12, 2012, attended by members of the UOTS Musicians Committee, representatives of Local 802, Ms. Salahuddeen, and several members of the UOTS board.
As part of the agreement, UOTS will end the 'pay-to-play' policy, and will bar the employee involved in the altercation from the venue.

A statement issued by the UOTS Musicians Committee reads:

'We're extremely pleased that UOTS has addressed the musicians' concerns, and that both they and we can now get back to presenting and performing creative music in this historic venue. We wish the venue and the musicians who play there every success.'

A statement byLocal 802 organizer Shane Gasteyer reads:

"These musicians have shown again that collective action really works. Local 802 is happy to be here supporting working musicians in every part of today's scene."

Ms. Salahuddeen invites any interested musicians to join an advisory committee of musicians so that UOTS can work more closely with the local jazz and improvisational music community "to ensure more productive and positive relationships with musicians."

Buke and Gase will be curating The Stone from tonight (5/1) to May 15. The curation kicks off tonight with Father Murphy at 8 PM and Les Bonhommes at 10 PM.

After tonight's show, Father Murphy, who are here from Italy, head out on tour with Xiu Xiu and Dirty Beaches (which hits Bowery Ballroom this Friday 5/4). Their album was mixed by Deerhoof's Greg Saunier who is one third of, but not the drummer of, Les Bonhommes (that also features William Kuehn from Rainer Maria).

Like Death By Audio, Manhattan's non-profit avant-garde venue The Stone is staying open Saturday night, and it's sure to be a very special show. Not only will those in attendance all have 'braving the hurricane' in common, it's the monthly...

WITH AN INCREASE IN EXPENSES AND A DROP IN OUR CD INCOME WE NEED YOUR HELP MORE THAN EVER TO SURVIVE--SO COME DOWN AND SUPPORT THE STONE AT OUR MONTHLY RENT PARTY! TWENTY DOLLARSThat is tonight (8/27) at 8pm only (no second show tonight). And then "THE STONE WILL BE CLOSED SUNDAY AND MONDAY AUGUST 28-29. THE SHOWS ARE CANCELED DUE TO HURRICANE IRENE. STAY SAFE!"

UPDATE:

THE STONE WILL BE CLOSED SATURDAY TO MONDAY AUGUST 27-29
These concerts have been canceled out of respect to MOTHER NATURE. HURRICANE IRENE is expected to strike six hours ahead of schedule at 9PM on Saturday night.
PLEASE STAY INDOORS AND STAY SAFE!
WE WILL REOPEN ON TUESDAY AUGUST 30

---

As previously mentioned, August at the Stone was curated by Carlos Giffoni and Seth Rosner. Tuesday's show features Ches Smith (drums) Tim Berne (alto sax) Nels Cline, Mary Halvorson (guitars), and Andrea Parkins (accordion). Shahzad Ismaily plays later that night. Wednesday, the last day of the month, has Jen Shyu and Tyshawn Sorey.

Founded in June 2010 the Undead Jazzfest is new kind of festival, bringing together an incredible array of artists from the new jazz and improvised music community currently exploding in New York City. With no headliners, affordable tickets, unorthodox venues and no drink minimums, the Undead Jazzfest aims to shake the public perception of what jazz can be today, celebrating the incredible music being made in a setting that is inviting to both the veterans and curious new fans.

Encompassing eleven venues over its four days (6/23 - 6/26), the Undead Jazzfest will feature appearances from more than 50 bands including names like Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Mountains and many others. The full list of participating bands is below. Four day passes are on sale for $45 until 4/28. The price increases to $50 after.

Undead Jazzfest is also responsible for curating another show outside of said festival, this one going down at Central Park Summerstage on June 11th with Medeski Martin & Wood, Josh Roseman's King Froopy All Stars and Jim Black's AlasNoAxis. It's one of many free 2011 Summerstage shows that have been announced.

AND, Undead Jazz presents a show at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (4/25) with Orchestre National de Jazz with Daniel Yvinec and John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble with special guests Theo Bleckmann , Kate McGarry and Uri Caine. Undead Jazz also presents Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors and Mary Halvorson Trio at the same venue on May 18th.

In rehearsing for a performance of John Cage's 'Sonata for Two Voices' (1933) at Issue Project Room last winter, guitarist Marco Cappelli and Marc Ribot made a strange discovery. The two guitarists overcame the gap between the rhythmic complexity of the piece and Mr. Ribot's somewhat limited sight reading skills by 'looping' measures: constantly repeating each difficult passage until it became easier. It was in this way they became aware of a strange fact about John Cage's music that would have probably surprised (and possibly dismayed) the composer himself: John Cage was one funky dude. The resulting project, "Caged Funk", is a further exploration of this little known aspect the late composer's work. Tonight's performance is an open rehearsal. This work was commissioned by and will be premiered July 8,2010 at the Ludwigsburg Festival 2010 in Germany.

On June 26th, Marc plays with another super-improv group at (Le) Poisson Rouge - a quintet with guitarist Leonid Fedorov, bassist Vladimir Volkov, John Medeski on keys, and percussionist Ches Smith. Tickets are on sale.

We mentioned Rose Live Music's drummer-led series, which continues through March, but we'd be remiss not to mention two other stunning drummers who will be working like crazy this March. Ches Smith and Weasel Walter both have a mad amount of shows planned throughout the month, playing almost nightly with a number of different bands and collaborators (some of which even overlap).

Both compose and improvise; Weasel Walter (who recently moved to New York) walks the metal/free jazz divide, having headed Flying Luttenbachers, and Ches's credits include current work with eclectic combos Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Secret Chiefs 3 (both with multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily) and past work with Xiu Xiu.

Ches plays tonight Wednesday, March 17th at the Stone with Good for Cows, a duo with bassist Devin Hoff that just released a new record, Audumla, in January. And Thursday he plays with Mary Halvorson Quintet at Roulette. Those are just of a few of the shows in NYC before Ches leaves in late April for a European tour with Secret Chiefs 3. His solo project Congs for Brums opens on the trip..

Weasel Walter played two gigs last night (3/16) - his compositions were performed at (Le) Poisson Rouge by International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and he played with Aurora Josephson Group (doing the music of Ayler, Mingus, Sun Ra, Feldman and improvising) at The Stone. He also joins Aram Shelton (alto saxophone), Damon Smith (bass) at Silent Barn tonight (March 17th) and has shows at Zebulon and Goodbye Blue Monday (both pass-the-hat venues) in March.

On March, 19 at the Stone, Weasel Walter plays drums with Quok, a trio with Ava Mendoza on guitar and Devin Hoff (of Good for Cows) on bass. The second set that night is Fig - Nels Cline (guitar) & Yuka Honda (keyboards). Hoff plays with Nels Cline Singers, whose two-disc set of guitar & electronic led tunes, Initiate, comes out April 13th on Cryptogramophone. The Singers will be at LPR for two sets on July 6th. Tickets are on sale.

Full dates for both drummers and videos of some of their projects are below...

Despite a good band (most of the crew from the new record, directed by the bassist Greg Cohen and including the guitarist Marc Ribot, who repeatedly tore it up), despite the rousing volume, despite the healthy and unhealthy adulation from the crowd, much of the show felt a bit inert. Having finished her part in a song, Ms. Faithfull leaned against a stool or a keyboard or a speaker, smiling into the distance, waiting for the musicians to wrap it up.

It didn't help that she kept her eyes on lyric sheets; consequently, many of the songs felt like recitations. She seemingly became truly involved in the music only when she didn't need to be reminded of the lyrics, which happened in some of her old songs: a little bit in the morbid "Sister Morphine," a lot in the scabrous "Why'd Ya Do It?" When she traded elegant resignation for asperity, closing her eyes and shaking her fists, she was so much better. [NY Times]

Ribot plays tonight (9/29) with Ceramic Dog, a trio with Shahzad Ismaily on bass/moog/other and drummer Ches Smith, and regular guest Eszter Balint. Tickets are still on sale.

Marc will be back at the venue on November 18th for a show with Akiko Yano. He played guitar on her 2008 T-Bone Burnett-produced album akiko, and it'll be their first NYC show together. Tickets are on sale. She plays without Marc Ribot (but with Will Lee & Chris Parker) at Joe's Pub on October 6th (tix).